Wrestlemania (annual pay-per-view)
WrestleMania is a professional wrestling event produced annually between mid-March to mid-April by WWE, an American professional wrestling promotion based in Stamford, Connecticut. WWE first produced the event in 1985 and has since produced 35 editions, with the most recent having been held in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 7, 2019. WrestleMania, WWE's flagship event, airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and the WWE Network and is the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. It contributes to the worldwide commercial success of WWE through media, merchandise, and shows. WrestleMania was conceptualized by WWE owner Vince McMahon and longtime WWE ring announcer and Hall of Famer Howard Finkel is credited with devising the name "WrestleMania" in 1984. WrestleMania's widespread success helped transform professional wrestling. The event has facilitated the rise to stardom of several top WWE wrestlers. Celebrities such as Aretha Franklin, Cyndi Lauper, Muhammad Ali, Mr. T, Alice Cooper, Lawrence Taylor, Pamela Anderson, Mike Tyson, Donald Trump, Floyd Mayweather, Pete Rose, Burt Reynolds, Mickey Rourke, Snoop Dogg, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Kid Rock, Fred Durst, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronda Rousey, Rob Gronkowski, and Shaquille O'Neal have participated or made special appearances within the events. The first WrestleMania was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City; the 10th and 20th editions were also held there. WrestleMania III in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan was the highest-attended indoor sports event in the world, with 93,173 fans in attendance. The record stood until February 14, 2010, when the 2010 NBA All-Star Game broke the indoor sporting event record with an attendance of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium, since renamed AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. In 2016, WrestleMania 32 surpassed WrestleMania III as the highest-attended professional wrestling event ever held in America, with 101,763 fans in attendance at AT&T Stadium, although the company revealed that attendance figures are manipulated for marketing purposes through investor calls. All editions of the event have been hosted in North American cities, with 33 in the United States and two in Canada. Organization Most WrestleMania events have taken place in sports arenas in large cities, with some in large stadiums. The most-attended events include WrestleMania III (93,173) in Pontiac, WrestleMania VI (67,678) in Toronto, WrestleMania VIII (62,167) in Indianapolis, WrestleMania X-Seven (67,925) in Houston, WrestleMania X8 (68,237) also in Toronto, WrestleMania XIX (54,097) in Seattle, WrestleMania 23 (80,103) in Detroit, WrestleMania XXIV (74,635) in Orlando, WrestleMania XXV (72,744) also in Houston, WrestleMania XXVI (72,219) in Phoenix, WrestleMania XXVII (71,617) in Atlanta, WrestleMania XXVIIII (78,363) in Miami, WrestleMania 29 (80,676) in East Rutherford, WrestleMania XXX (75,167) in New Orleans, WrestleMania 31 (76,976) in Santa Clara, and WrestleMania 32 (101,763) in Dallas. Since moving to large stadiums and running WrestleMania Axxess, the event produces a local economy boost for the host cities. WrestleMania centers on the main event matches, primarily for the WWE Championship - and additional world titles, such as the World Heavyweight Championship (2003-2013) and the WWE Universal Championship (since 2018) - as well as matches involving celebrities such as American footballer Lawrence Taylor or actor Mr. T. Other WWE championships are also contested for, while the match card also includes gimmick matches. Since 1993, the winner of the annual Royal Rumble match has been able to receive a guaranteed WWE Championship match at the same year's WrestleMania. With the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002, the winner was also given the option to choose between the world title or the WWE championship. The creation of the ECW brand in June 2006 gave the Rumble winner a third option: to choose to challenge for the ECW World Championship. This option was made available from 2007 until the brand was retired in 2010. However, this option was never chosen. The brand split ended in 2011 and the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships were unified in 2013, leaving the former as the only title to challenge for until the reintroduction of the brand split in 2016, which added the WWE Universal Championship as a choice. A women's Royal Rumble match was introduced in 2018, and the winner has the option of challenging for either the WWE Raw Women's Championship or WWE SmackDown Women's Championship. WrestleMania 21 saw the introduction of the Money in the Bank ladder match. This match features six to ten participants and took place at six WrestleManias between 2005 and 2010 before becoming the headline match of its own pay-per-view event, Money in the Bank which incorporated the use of two Money in the Bank ladder matches for both respective WWE brands, SmackDown and Raw. The participant who retrieves the briefcase suspended above the ring wins a contract, which guarantees a world title match at the time and place of the winner's choosing for up to one year, including the following year's WrestleMania. This lasted until 2010 when the Money in the Bank pay per view was introduced and thus the Money in the Bank ladder match was retired from WrestleMania. Forbes named WrestleMania one of the world's most valuable sports event brands from 2014 to 2017, ranking it sixth with a brand value of US$ 195 million in 2017 behind the Super Bowl, Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and the NCAA Final Four. Commentators For five of the first six WrestleManias Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura served as the color commentators (the exception being WrestleMania 2, which was split among three venues and had Monsoon, Ventura, and Vince McMahon split up with guest commentators), while Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund, Lord Alfred Hayes, and others filled guest roles. For WrestleMania VII and VIII, Monsoon and Heenan provided color commentary. In the mid to late 1990s, the commentator team comprised Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. Since the brand separation in 2002, matches from the Raw brand have been called by Ross and Lawler; the SmackDown matches called by Michael Cole, Tazz, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, and Jonathan Coachman, and from 2006 to 2010, the ECW matches called by Joey Styles and Tazz. At WrestleMania XXV the first three-man inter-brand commentary team since the WWE Brand Extension was used and consisted of Jim Ross, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Michael Cole. The following year Jim Ross was replaced by Matt Striker at WrestleMania XXVI. At WrestleMania XXVII Jim Ross returned to commentate, along with Josh Mathews and new SmackDown color commentator Booker T; the sudden change of commentary was due to a singles match between regular commentators Michael Cole and Jerry "The King" Lawler. Howard Finkel, who is credited with coming up with the name "WrestleMania" in 1984, has served as the long-standing ring-announcer and has appeared at every event except WrestleMania 33, but since the WWE Brand Extension, Lilian Garcia, Tony Chimel and Justin Roberts have taken over as announcers for their respective brand matches. Four French commentators were at ringside: Jean Brassard and Raymond Rougeau (WrestleMania 13), Phillippe Chéreau and Christophe Agius (WrestleMania XXX, WrestleMania 31, WrestleMania 32 and WrestleMania 33).